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Tuesday, October 13, 2009

I spent a good part of the past 2 weeks going through the kids' clothes. You know, I took their shorts and tank tops out of their drawers ensuring we'll have a few freak 80 degree days next week. I took the sundresses out of Lexi's closet because I was getting really tired of asking her, Umm Lex, you sure you want to wear that today? It's 40 degrees outside."

I asked Austin to try on his clothes and make piles of what fit and what didn't. When I entered his room, I was engulfed by an enormous pile of smelly, wrinkly clothes. Seriously, his clothes covered every inch of his floor. I opened his closet door and saw this...

Yeah, a shirt, and his graduation robe. So, his choice was - wear shorts and the same 3 mangy t-shirts all winter long, wear his graduation robe to school, or (gulp) go shopping with me. Needless to say, he chose to wear shorts all winter long.

After folding the clothes he'd outgrown and packing them away for Jackson, I dragged his butt out to Old Navy despite his protests.

"How about this, Austin?" I asked, holding up a button down shirt with a collar.

He made a face like I had just suggested he wear a pink tutu to school, and backed away from me, shaking his head.

"What's wrong with it?" I demanded. "It doesn't have any holes? It isn't completely threadbare? It has (gasp) buttons?"

"I like t-shirts," he said simply, defending his accoutrement of choice.

OK, what do I care if my son wants to look like a hobo. It makes no difference to me. I moved over to a display of t-shirts and held up one for Austin's approval.

"Well, of course it does. What was I thinking?" I muttered to myself as I reached for a plain red shirt.

"Not red," instructed Austin before I could even hold it up.

"Tell you what. I'm going to look over in the women's section. You pick out at least 5 shirts before you come find me."

I walked by the display of freakish mannequins and looked at some cute, colorful sweaters. They're cute, but I could never wear something that hot. I passed the sweaters and browsed through some Ts. I held one up to me, but noticed it had long sleeves. Ugh, I'd never buy a shirt with long sleeves. I looked at another table loaded with colorful shirts. I started to look for my size when I realized they had a regular t-shirt neck instead of a lower v-neck and I knew I'd be clawing at my throat within seconds of putting this shirt on because it would rub against my neck and make me insane.

I moved on to another rack when it hit me. I'm worse than Austin is! This was yet another way in which we were alike. I remembered back to when he was a preschooler and he'd scream for hours that his socks felt weird. I looked down at my sockless feet and tried to remember if I even owned a pair of socks. Do I apologize to Austin and tell him that I understand his pickiness? Nah, no sense in letting him know that I'm weird too.

After he picked out his shirts, I grabbed like 5000 pairs of some jeans for him to try on. I'll give a head's up to any moms out there who have sons who are just growing out of kid sizes and into men's sizes. Measure them before you leave for the store so you can avoid the whole - try this 30/30. No? Hmm, how about 32/30? 30/32? 34/32? Still doesn't fit? Ummm, let's see, 32/34? 33/30? 33/32? 33/34? Are we getting close?

And yes, I actually do know how men's sizing works. But I was working with a teenage boy who came out of the dressing room and gave helpful feedback like, "I dunno. I think they fit. Umm, I didn't check the length. Oh, I was supposed to fasten them when I tried them on?"

In the end, I managed to buy a couple pairs of jeans and a handful of shirts for him. He really didn't even complain too much. It was probably the best shopping trip I've ever had with him.

Now to get winter coats for Austin and Savannah who seem to have grown freakishly long arms since last winter...

27 comments:

bbear952002
said...

Dawn you just discribe myself and my son to a T. My little sister was the worse to shop with so when we would go my mom would let her look and when a sales clerk asked if we needed help my mom would point to my sister and say when she lands at a rack help her. :)

If your family likes plain t-shirts, you can buy those for $5 (less on sale) at a craft store where they're meant to be decorated. They're usually nice quality heavyweight ones, too, as opposed to the thin ones you buy for men's undershirts.

Too funny, I had this EXACT same situation with my 14 yr old last week. Except our shopping fun (not) happened at Kohls!! Let's just say he's lucky to still be alive because after our shopping ordeal we came home with two pairs of jeans, one that is a 32/34 and WAY too long and then one that is a 30/30 and way too short and tight in the waist. When he put them on to go to school I couldn't believe it!!(and yes he tried them on at the store) It must be a 14 yr old guy thing, a girl would never do that!!!

Dawn, I must laugh again at how alike we are! On Monday I did the same trip with the kids and we went to Old Navy. Insert Max's name with Austin's and it was the exact same scenario! Except he got nothing from Old Navy. We had better luck with jeans from Kohl's and Aeropostale. I came home with a blinding headache from a day of shopping with a teenager! UGH!!

It's obviously universal! My son thinks wearing a collared shirt is dressing up. He only wants plain t-shirts, too - definitely not something that actually SAYS "Old Navy". He's 16, so I'm telling you he's not outgrowing this stage for a while. And I'm with you on the jeans, too. They want them long and loose, we want them to not fall off their waists! I don't want to see your boxers! We now give him money and tell him how many shirts and/or jeans to get (and give him a spending limit). We seem to do better with Kohl's, too. Thanks for making me laugh - it's always funny when it's not you!

Whew, I'm lucky then, that my 10 year old middle schooler could care less what I buy for him! Polo shirt, button down shirt, t-shirt, he'll wear it as long as it's not pink or purple! Of course, things could change by the time he's a real teen. We'll see!

Your post reminded me of my son when he was in high school. He wasn't quite as picky, but he only wanted jeans, plain tees, and flannel shirts to wear over the tees. But, if the flannel was a little too bright or the plaid was too big, forget about it! He was easy to shop with, though, and didn't mind buying the clothes at the cheap store, and only wanted like one weeks worth of clothes at a time.

Austin is EXACTLY like my 14 year old son. No collars, no buttons, no stripes, he also has a "horozontal closet" and is still wearing shorts and a hoodie here in the midwest where the weather hasn't gotten above 50 for a couple of weeks. Good for you to take pause and realize where this quirkiness comes from (and keeping it yourself).

Oh my gosh this is going to be me this weekend...here is NC we had a sudden blast of cool weather..this morning I had to explain to my 14yr old and 12 yr old why they couldnt wear shorts to school..LOL Hello it is going to be in the 50's!!!! Finding pants for them is always fun! Making sure they fit in the waist and then in the length..UHH!! My 14yr old thinks that the leg of the pants must touch the floor..Ohh arent teenagers FUN!

What about husbands? I stood in front of a rack of every color t-shirt at Old Navy and begged him to buying some. He bought two. Know what color he picked? gray. Know why? Because they go with everything... Honestly he is a sweet heart he is always trying to save us money. But gray?? I am beginning to understand why he had seriously four t-shirts the whole three years we dated. :)

Hi Dawn,Just curious...do your kids clammer for brand name clothes? My kids never really have but boy, once they hit JH or High School, they know all the brand names. Thankfully, I have kiddos that care more about how they look in the clothes more than the tag inside.

Oh man. When Oatmeal Head was 12, nearly 13, he grew 7 inches in 6 months. I finally wound up at Ross every two weeks, shopping clearance for 4 dollar pants. Was I ever happy to find his picky favorite - camoflage - in a boy's size 20. I didn't know they came in 20!

My 5 year old son refuses to wear socks! Hates them. So we let him go sockless but then his feet stink to high heaven. I was hoping he would eventually grow out of this phase, but it sounds like I don't have a hope in the world. Does Austin wear socks now?

This reminds me of the saying: "I'm not picky, I just know what I want." That describes me completely when it comes to shopping. It's a good thing and a bad thing at the same time (knowing what you want). Because you don't always find it, and even if you do, it might be a those jeans that are half of your monthly income. LOL.

Haha. It's humbling when you catch yourself doing the very same things that other people drive you crazy with. He should just be glad you don't come home with clothes you already picked out yourself and bought for him!

Oh Dawn . . . .our Austin's must be related. We just did the same thing last month in Old Navy. He'll be 14 the end of this month and is really tall so we had to make the men's sizes switch, too. Thankfully he's skinny so I knew he'd need the smallest jeans size.

He is so picky about his tennis shoes and jackets. I think it's going to kill me some day!

My son is a t-shirt wearer too! He will wear t-shirts and zip up sweat shirts all winter long. He likes the feel of T-shirts and if he has to wear another shirt, he will put a t-shirt underneath, even in the summer when it is hot.